In a move that brings Arizona into a field of players getting into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency space, the State has passed a bill allowing citizens to pay taxes in Bitcoin or other Cryptos.  For the full article Click Here.  This move could allow the state to potentially benefit from by setting a below market conversion rate that could allow them to profit on the required conversion to U.S. Dollars within 24 hours, as is required in the law.  Arizona ranks 33rd in Fiscal Condition Rank currently.  We see this move as being beneficial to their bottom line.  It also further…

In a January report covering the financial services industry, Bain Company shines a light on how Banks and other financial services companies are tripping over themselves in an effort to comply with myriad regulations.  One reported that a client gets flagged because of the street name for their office.  All top banks surveyed reported a reliance on flawed manual data inputs and lack of enterprise integration.  Flawed and incomplete inputs result in flawed models.  As if that were not enough, not only is better data needed, MRM (Model Risk Management) groups must also possess savvy interpersonal and negotiating skills in order…

Everybody knows robotics have penetrated the auto manufacturing and warehousing industries, but how could that ever affect Accounting?  In her recent Article on www.accountexnetwork.com, Dr. Kasthuri Henry references several sources, including an EY Report outlining how Robotics Process Automation can save 80% of the cost of a human to perform recurring tasks endlessly and without error. This will of course reduce the need for employees to perform certain tasks while at the same time requiring IT Finance specialists to create the systems to interact.  We feel this underscores the increasing need for IT professionals who support Finance to gain more…

Which recently built structure is estimated to cost nearly $29 Million per use?  Answer: The Pyeonqchang Olympic Center in South Korea.  With the 2018 Winter Olympics starting next week, it is that time when the topic of the cost of hosting the Olympics arises.  This new open air arena has no future projected use after the Olympics and will be torn down, so with four events planned, the $116 Million price tag averages close to $30 Million per event.  For more information on the stadium Click Here. The Olympics, which begin Feb. 9, will cost South Korea about $13 Billion…

The recent collapse of a British company whose roots date back 115 years underscores the risk of borrowing to cover dividend payments and pension funding obligations.  Carillion (43,000 employees and 28,000 pensioners) recently collapsed under the weight of poor pricing schemes, (apparently legal) mismanagement and a defined benefit burden that was not sustainable. Hopefully politicians in Chicago will take heed, but they probably will not. For an article on this topic Click Here. Torrey & Gray is a recruiting and staffing firm in the Chicago area that finds Controllers and other professionals who can help your organization avoid this type…

As Blockchain technology finds it’s way into myriad industries, the potential for accounting and regulated business sectors is ripe for mass adoption.  This will also become a valuable tool for nonprofits to validate their income to expense ratios.  The trustless and immutable nature of a distributed ledger will transform the ease by which regulatory agencies verify audits.  This will eventually become adopted and divert working capital from non-revenue generating accounting and compliance expenses toward areas such as marketing, innovation, debt reduction and reduction of the cost of capital.  To read a Deloitte Whitepaper on this topic, Click Here.  CFO’s, Controllers…

In the January 31st, 2018 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, regional compensation and benefit cost increases are explained.  Chicago area wage and benefit increases are within national averages.  We are seeing increasing willingness for small to mid size companies in the Chicago area raise their target compensation levels for Controller and similar level positions.  Continuing a trend in Illinois, government worker wage and benefit increases exceed those in private sectors.  For the BLS report Click Here

In a recent report published by the National Association of Business Economics, they found an increase in predicted hiring in coming months while companies expecting downsizing held steady.  This among other factors we believe will be a pressure that will finally begin to drive wage increases.  For more information on the report Click Here.  This reinforces the public sentiment of higher wage expectations as reported on January, 16th by Bloomberg.

To pile it onto an already hostile and competitive industry, Illinois saw fit to add undue reporting burdens to certain sectors of the staffing industry.  The original version was even worse, but the final bill signed by Governor Rauner is still bad and put’s the state in yet another competitive disadvantage. For the full article go to https://www2.staffingindustry.com/site/Editorial/Daily-News/New-Illinois-law-imposes-more-legal-requirements-on-staffing-agencies-The-Staffing-Stream-43894

Torrey & Gray is a recruiting and staffing firm in the Chicago area that has expertise recruiting professionals for CECL, Risk Modeling and other finance related positions for financial services organizations.  In this article from the ABA Banking Journal, the potential effects of the upcoming Current Expected Credit Loss standard (CECL) is explored from several viewpoints. As with past regulatory reporting requirements, a significant amount of time and resources may be needed to effectively capture and assemble the data needed by banks to begin the process.  The requirement may impact smaller banks more adversely as their cost of obtaining reliable…